Rabbit vandals face death squad
A colony of rabbits is running rampant in a historic North Island cemetery, burrowing into graves and undermining headstones.
Now, the furry pests are in the sights – and scopes – of council officials, who want them gone, and a cull will soon begin.
The 138-year-old Taihape Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Joyce Hardwidge’s relatives, including her husband George.
She is appalled at the destruction wrought by the rabbits.
‘‘It’s pretty nasty. It just doesn’t feel nice. These poor people were put there to rest, not to be dug up again.’’
Hardwidge said there were ‘‘heaps’’ of rabbits and she saw them digging their warrens during her last visit.
‘‘I saw 17 in one little spot the other day when I came up to my husband’s grave.’’
Council parks and reserves team leader Athol Sanson said the rabbits had caused significant damage to the cemetery lawns and graves over the past two months.
The earliest graves in the cemetery date back to 1881 and the graveyard is home to the official war graves of two soldiers from World War I and eight from WWII.
The council has hired a contractor to take out the vandalous vermin and the cull is expected to start towards the end of the month.
‘‘Our aim is to see a significant reduction in rabbit numbers so that little or no further damage occurs at the cemetery,’’ Sanson said.
The rabbits will be shot on site during their most active times – dusk and dawn. And poison will be dropped in the burrows.
‘‘All the rabbit carcasses will be removed to avoid them being eaten by dogs and the burrows sealed up,’’ Sanson said.
‘‘Letters to the neighbouring landowners will be sent will in advance . . . and signs will be erected letting cemetery visitors know a control programme is occurring.’’
Jan Thomas, who lives a couple of hundred yards up the road from the cemetery, said the rabbit population in her neighbourhood seemed to explode suddenly.
‘‘It started out with one or two. Now, they’re just running rampant.’’
Thomas said she could live with some early morning noise during the cull, as long as the rabbits didn’t survive.